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Astronomy: explore STEM content (page 17 of 26) · openstem

All fields Software Mathematics Physics Chemistry Biology Engineering Astronomy Environmental Other Astronomy Astronomy groups

Explore STEM Content

Search the community's STEM library — free to study, yours to make your own.

Astronomy

Stars, orbits, cosmology and observation on openstem — flashcards, notes, quizzes and plots shared by the community. Study free, or clone anything into your library.

Content Groups1

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Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Stellar Evolution · flowchart

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Stellar Evolution · flowchart

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Multi-Messenger Astronomy

02Astronomy · L5 · Multi-Messenger Astronomy: Gravitational Waves, Neutrinos, and Light from One Event

03Astronomy · L5 · The GW170817 Multi-Messenger Detection Timeline

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Multi-Messenger Astronomy

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Astronomy · L5 · Multi-Messenger Astronomy

Note~166 words · 1 min

A Curtain of Light in the Sky On some nights, especially near the North and South Poles, the sky fills with shifting curtains of green, pink, and purple light. This glow is called an aurora. Even though it happens right here on Earth, the r

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Northern Lights (Auroras)

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Astronomy · L1 · Northern Lights (Auroras)

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L5 · The Epoch of Reionization

02Astronomy · L5 · The Epoch of Reionization and the Redshifted 21 cm Line

03Astronomy · L5 · What Sets the Sign of the 21 cm Brightness Temperature

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · The Epoch of Reionization

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Astronomy · L5 · The Epoch of Reionization

Note~613 words · 3 min

Interplanetary trajectory design: patched conics, delta-v, and gravity assists Getting a spacecraft from Earth to another planet is, in full generality, an unsolvable few-body gravitational problem. Mission designers make it tractable by ap

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Interplanetary trajectory design: patched conics, delta-v, and gravity assists

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Astronomy · L4 · Interplanetary trajectory design: patched conics, delta-v, and gravity assists

Flashcards7 cards

What is a Near-Earth Object (NEO)?1 / 7

An asteroid or comet whose orbit brings it within about 195 million km of Earth's orbit — close enough that astronomers keep a careful watch on it.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Near-Earth Objects and Impact Risk

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Astronomy · L2 · Near-Earth Objects and Impact Risk

Collection3 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays & the GZK Cutoff

02Astronomy · L5 · Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays & the GZK Cutoff

03Astronomy · L5 · Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays & the GZK Cutoff

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays & the GZK Cutoff

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Astronomy · L5 · Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Rays & the GZK Cutoff

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · The Changing Moon · flowchart

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Astronomy · L1 · The Changing Moon · flowchart

Flowchart12 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Designing an interplanetary trajectory: patched conics and the gravity-assist option

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Astronomy · L4 · Designing an interplanetary trajectory: patched conics and the gravity-assist option

Collection7 items

01Astronomy · L5 · Exoplanet Detection: Transit and Radial-Velocity Methods

02Astronomy · L5 · FLRW Cosmology & Friedmann Dynamics

03Astronomy · L5 · Stellar Nucleosynthesis: pp Chain and CNO Cycle

+4 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Cosmology & Astrophysics

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Astronomy · L5 · Cosmology & Astrophysics

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Moon Formation & the Giant Impact · flowchart

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Astronomy · L3 · Moon Formation & the Giant Impact · flowchart

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

02Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

03Astronomy · L3 · From Molecular Cloud Core to Planetary System

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

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Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

Flowchart11 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · A Mars Rover Mission, Step by Step

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Astronomy · L1 · A Mars Rover Mission, Step by Step

Flashcards8 cards

What is the giant-impact hypothesis?1 / 8

The leading explanation for the Moon's origin: about 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet collided with the young Earth at a grazing angle, ejecting debris that later accreted into the Moon.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Moon Formation & the Giant Impact

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Moon Formation & the Giant Impact

Quiz7 questions

What are planetary rings physically made of?

AA single solid, continuous sheet of iceBCountless individual particles, mostly ice, each independently orbiting the planetCCompressed gas trapped by the planet's magnetic fieldDA thin layer of the planet's own atmosphere

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Planetary Ring & Moon Systems

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Astronomy · L3 · Planetary Ring & Moon Systems

Quiz6 questions

Which planet is famous for its bright rings?

AMarsBSaturnCMercuryDVenus

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · Saturn's Rings Quiz

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Astronomy · L1 · Saturn's Rings Quiz

Flowchart16 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Phases of the Moon

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Astronomy · L2 · Phases of the Moon

Flashcards8 cards

What holds a white dwarf up against gravitational collapse, and why is that mechanism unusual?1 / 8

Electron degeneracy pressure — a quantum-mechanical effect from the Pauli exclusion principle, which forbids any two electrons from occupying the same quantum state. Packed to extreme density, electrons are forced into ever-higher momentum states purely to satisfy this exclusion, producing a pressure that exists even at zero temperature — unlike ordinary thermal (gas) pressure, which depends on temperature.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · White Dwarfs: Degeneracy Pressure & the Chandrasekhar Limit

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Astronomy · L4 · White Dwarfs: Degeneracy Pressure & the Chandrasekhar Limit

Flowchart13 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Stellar structure: hydrostatic equilibrium and mass continuity · flowchart

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Astronomy · L4 · Stellar structure: hydrostatic equilibrium and mass continuity · flowchart

Flowchart13 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Strong Lensing or Weak Lensing?

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Astronomy · L3 · Strong Lensing or Weak Lensing?

Flashcards8 cards

What is an absorption line, and what causes it?1 / 8

A dark line at a specific wavelength in an otherwise continuous spectrum, caused by atoms in a cooler outer layer of gas absorbing light of exactly the wavelengths their electrons can use to jump to a higher energy level.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Spectroscopy & Redshift

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Spectroscopy & Redshift

Collection4 items

01Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics

02Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics

03Astronomy · L3 · From Solar Wind to Auroral Light

+1 more

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics

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Astronomy · L3 · Aurora & Magnetosphere Physics

Flashcards9 cards

Why is Mars called the 'Red Planet'?1 / 9

Its surface is covered in iron oxide dust — essentially rust — which gives it a reddish color.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Mars in Depth

@openstem

Astronomy · L2 · Mars in Depth

Flashcards8 cards

Why can't fusion alone build elements heavier than iron-56 inside a star?1 / 8

Iron-56 has the highest binding energy per nucleon of any common nuclide, meaning it sits at the bottom of the nuclear binding-energy curve. Fusing nuclei together releases energy only up to iron; fusing beyond it would require a net INPUT of energy rather than releasing it, so ordinary stellar fusion cannot proceed past iron as an energy source.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Neutron-Capture Nucleosynthesis: the s-process and r-process

@openstem

Astronomy · L5 · Neutron-Capture Nucleosynthesis: the s-process and r-process

Flashcards8 cards

Why does a collapsing molecular cloud core spin faster as it shrinks?1 / 8

Conservation of angular momentum. Even a slowly rotating cloud has some angular momentum L = I ω; as the cloud's radius shrinks, its moment of inertia I decreases, so ω must increase to keep L constant.

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Solar System Formation: The Nebular Hypothesis

Note~280 words · 1 min

One Law, Every Falling Thing Isaac Newton's great insight was that the force pulling an apple to the ground and the force holding the Moon in orbit are the same force, obeying the same rule everywhere in the Universe. The Law of Universal G

Astronomy

Astronomy · L3 · Newtonian Gravitation

@openstem

Astronomy · L3 · Newtonian Gravitation

Flowchart9 objects

Astronomy

Astronomy · L1 · The Sun, Our Star · flowchart

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Astronomy · L1 · The Sun, Our Star · flowchart

Note~520 words · 3 min

Weighing Sagittarius A*: stellar orbits at the Galactic Center The strongest evidence that a supermassive black hole sits at the center of the Milky Way comes not from imaging it directly, but from patiently tracking the orbits of ordinary

Astronomy

Astronomy · L4 · Weighing Sagittarius A*: stellar orbits at the Galactic Center

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Astronomy · L4 · Weighing Sagittarius A*: stellar orbits at the Galactic Center

Quiz7 questions

Why can't ordinary stellar fusion build elements heavier than iron-56 as an energy source?

AIron-56 nuclei are too small to fuse furtherBIron-56 has the highest binding energy per nucleon, so fusing beyond it requires a net energy input rather than releasing energyCStars run out of all nuclear fuel exactly at ironDIron-56 does not exist inside stars

Astronomy

Astronomy · L5 · Neutron-Capture Nucleosynthesis: the s-process and r-process

@openstem

Astronomy · L5 · Neutron-Capture Nucleosynthesis: the s-process and r-process

Quiz4 questions

Why doesn't a planet fall straight into the Sun?

AThe Sun's gravity is too weak to pull it inBIt has sideways speed that keeps carrying it forward as gravity curves its pathCSpace has no gravityDThe planet is too heavy for gravity to move

Astronomy

Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

@openstem

Astronomy · L2 · Gravity and Orbital Motion

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